Sri Lanka, June 23 -- Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela raised serious concerns about the alarming decline in the number of domesticated elephants in Sri Lanka, stating that around 110 tamed elephants have died over the past two decades.

He warned that securing enough elephants for perahera (procession) festivals has now become a major challenge, due to the lack of replacement elephants.

He noted that the number of tamed elephants in the country, which stood at 96 last year, has now dropped to 91. This information was revealed during a discussion held at the Temple of the Tooth, convened to announce the upcoming schedule of the Kandy Esala Perahera.

Most of the currently available domesticated elephants are over 50 years old, and ...